


i have died everyday waiting for you

by winter_bunny



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Kidnapping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:48:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7245502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_bunny/pseuds/winter_bunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You heard the news?” Jon asked all of a sudden and turned around to look at Robb.</p>
<p>Robb looked out of the terrace door towards the garden and nodded. He didn’t have to ask what Jon was talking about. He already knew. And he wouldn’t have believed that this day would come, not in a thousand years.</p>
<p>“I have. Sansa called this morning just to tell me.”</p>
<p>“And what are you going to do about it?”</p>
<p>“What should I do about it?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know. But you were best friends and after all, weren’t you?”</p>
<p>We were more than best friends, Robb thought, we were brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i have died everyday waiting for you

It was a cold and dark day. Autumn was officially over and winter was coming. The days were shorter now and the temperature had dropped to around zero degrees.

Robb and Jon sat on the sofa in the living room of their shared apartment. It wasn’t that late, not even 6pm and it was already dark outside.  
They weren’t about to do anything in particular this evening. Jon had picked some movies to watch while Robb had gotten snacks and drinks.

“You heard the news?” Jon asked all of a sudden and turned around to look at Robb.

Robb looked out of the terrace door towards the garden and nodded. He didn’t have to ask what Jon was talking about. He already knew. And he wouldn’t have believed that this day would come, not in a thousand years.

“I have. Sansa called this morning just to tell me.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“What should I do about it?”

“I don’t know. But you were best friends and after all, weren’t you?”

_We were more than best friends_ , Robb thought, _we were even more than brothers._

 

\---

 

**_Age 10_ **

_They were sitting in the tree house in the Stark family house’s garden. They had spent the whole summer building it together with Robb’s father and his cousin Jon._

_“Are you sure you want to do this?” Robb asked and looked uneasily at the knife in Theon’s hand._

_“You were the one who suggested it.”_

_“Yes, I know. But I was making a joke, kind of.”_

_Theon rolled his eyes. “Don’t be such a girl. If you prefer playing with dolls and stuff, you’re free to join Sansa and Jeyne in the living room.” He smirked at him. “And besides, it will only hurt for a moment. And your Mom isn’t going to kill you. Just tell her you cut your hand while improving our tree house. Which would be kind of true, I guess.”_

_Robb was still unconvinced, but he didn’t want to back out. He didn’t want Theon to think that he was a coward._

_“Ok.” He said and held out his hand. “Just do it then.”_

_Theon took Robb’s right hand gently in his own and pressed the knife into the sensitive skin. Then he did the same with his._

_“Am I your brother? Now and always?” Theon said with a serious expression on his face while he held out his bleeding hand towards Robb._

_“Now and always.” Robb said with a smile as he shook Theon’s hand._

 

\---

 

“You never told me what happened between the two of you?” Jon continued asking.

Robb shrugged and still watched the dark garden. “Circumstances.”

“You don’t stop being friends because of circumstances. And certainly not when you’re as close as you and Theon were.”

“Well, sometimes you do.”

“You don’t want to talk about it?” Jon kept on looking at Robb.

But Robb didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to tell him anyway. There were so many things that had happened between him and Theon.

“You know that you can tell me anything. And when you’re ready to talk about it, I’ll be there to listen.”

 

\---

 

**_Age 15_ **

_They were about to spend the night in their tree house, just the two of them this time. Jon would have to get up early the next morning and had to sleep at home._

_Robb and Theon had already brought their stuff up there in the afternoon. They pulled up the corded ladder now that they had the air mattress, their bedrolls and everything else they needed with them._

_It was getting darker and Theon lit a candle on the small table beneath the window._

_“Sansa told me today that Jeyne Westerling likes me.” Robb said as he unrolled his bedroll on the mattress next to Theon’s._

_“She likes you as in ‘a friend likes you’ or ‘she likes you and wants to go out with you’?”_

_“The second.”_

_“That’s cool, man. Are you going to ask her out?”_

_Robb blushed. “I don’t know. I mean- she’s a nice girl and she’s pretty, but- I have never been on a real date before-“_

_“Well, there has to be a first time, don’t you think?” Theon smirked his signature smirk._

_“You’ve already been on dates, haven’t you?”_

_“Yes, a couple.”_

_“Can’t you give me some advises?”_

_Theon laughed. “Well, what do you want to know?”_

_“Where should I take her? I mean, I wouldn’t go to watch some movie, it’s dark in the cinema hall and what if she expects me to hold her hand or kiss her?” Robb sounded tense._

_“And where’s the problem. You have kissed a girl before, haven’t you?”_

_Robb’s face got even redder and Theon laughed more._

_“Gods, Stark. Well anyway, this isn’t something to be ashamed of.”_

_“Could you show me?”_

_“What?”_

_“How to kiss?” Robb asked uncertainly._

_“Excuse me?” Theon stared at him in disbelief._

_“I mean- well, we’re friends and you know- girls practice kissing with each other too.”_

_“But we are not girls. And where did you even get that?”_

_“I’ve seen it on TV.” Robb said in a low voice not daring to look at Theon._

_Theon thought for a moment and shrugged.”But that’s between us. You don’t tell anyone, not even Jon or your sister.”_

_“Of course not.”_

_Theon blew out the candle._

_“Just setting the mood.” He said as he saw Robb’s questioning look. Then he walked over and stopped directly in front of Robb._

_“How do I start?” Robb asked curiously._

_“Cup her cheek, stroke it gently with your thumb.” Theon said as he followed his own instructions. He could feel Robb’s blush warm under his fingers. He smiled as he felt the tension in Robb’s body._

_“Relax.” he said softly as he put his other hand on the small of Robb’s back to pull him closer._

_Robb held his breath but relaxed a bit. “What do I do with my hands?”_

_“Put them on my hips or on my back, wherever you want. Or the back of my neck.” Theon whispered and Robb could feel his breath on his skin. He put one of his hands on Theon’s hip as the other grabbed the back of his neck._

_“Like that?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Then Theon brought their lips together. It was chaste and sweet and Robb melted into it, his body fully releasing the tension.  
Robb could feel Theon smile under his lips as they deepened the kiss. And suddenly Jeyne Westerling was forgotten. This was what Robb wanted to do for the rest of his life._

_And thank god, Theon felt the same. They both mused about how long they had been so blind not to notice that they were in love with each other._

_They joined their bedrolls so that it was one big one and they could share it. They lay down facing each other, their arms around each other and their legs tangled and kept kissing until they finally fell asleep at dawn._

 

\---

 

They continued watching the movie in silence but Robb wasn’t really paying attention. He had no idea of how many times he had watched it but he could almost recite it.

Theon was back. He had nearly dropped his phone when Sansa had broken the news to him. He had asked if she was sure that it was actually him and she said that she had seen him with her own eyes.

He tried to remember their last meeting.

 

\---

 

**_Age 21_ **

_The last couple of months had been rough. Eddard Stark had died in a drunken bar fight he had tried to solve. A man had put a piece of broken glass into his neck and he had bled out within minutes._

_Everyone was shocked, Mr. Stark had been well regarded by his friends and employees._

_And now it was Robb’s turn to take over his father’s company._

_Robb and Theon had continued their secret relationship. They had kept it a secret not because they were ashamed of it, they just thought that it was not everyone else’s business._

_There were only two people who actually knew about them, Robb’s sister Sansa and Theon’s sister Asha._

_“I don’t know if I’m able to handle this.” Robb sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table._

_“Are you kidding me? If not you, who else?” Theon remarked as he placed a cup of coffee in front of him and then put his hands on Robb’s tense shoulders._

_Robb grabbed his cup and took a sip._

_“I can’t do it without these papers. I have to go to Pyke and collect them myself, just as father always did.”_

_“No way, you can’t do that. You need to stay here with your family and the company. You should send someone in your stead.”_

_“And who? You’re the only one I would trust with this and I can’t send you away.”_

_“Why not? It would be an honor.” Theon leaned down over his shoulder and kissed his cheek. “Send me and I’ll be back with them.”_

_Robb turned around to look at his face. “But I need you.”_

_“Don’t worry. I won’t be away for too long. Let me help you.”_

_If Robb had known the outcome of sending Theon away, he would never have done it._

 

\---

 

“He left me.” Robb whispered finally.

“What?” Jon asked.

“He just left me.” Robb said again. “He left and he didn’t come back. He promised me to get the papers and come back immediately. And I haven’t heard anything from him since then. He just disappeared.”

Jon nodded. “I see.”

“The man I considered my closest friend- of all people-“ Robb choked and rubbed his face with both his hands.

Jon grabbed his shoulder.  “Do you want to see him again?”

“I don’t know. I seriously don’t know.”

 

\---

 

**_Age 21_ **

_They sat in the great conference room._

_“Have you heard anything from him?”_

_“I fear not.” Roose Bolton, his Deputy General Manager, answered. “No one has heard from Greyjoy since he left three days ago.”_

_It was unusual for Theon that he didn’t call or text Robb. His phone was turned off by then and the only thing Robb knew was that Theon had reached Pyke and was about to go out for dinner._

_“My son Ramsay is a private investigator. I could send him after him.” Bolton suggested._

_Robb thought about it for a moment._

_“Not now. We’ll wait another day and then you can send your son.”_

_Roose Bolton knocked on Robb’s office door a week later._

_“There’s news from my son.” He started and laid a folder on Robb’s desk. Robb looked up at him hopefully._

Please, I hope he has found Theon and that he’s well and coming home, _Robb thought to himself._

_“Greyjoy actually reached Pyke the day after he had left Winterfell. He checked into his hotel room and was seen having dinner at some Italian restaurant. He paid and subsequently left. That was the last time he’d been seen there. His car is still parked on the parking lot there.”_

_Robb’s face fell._

\---

 

It was Monday morning and Robb stood by the window in his office. The sight wasn’t very good; mist prevented him from seeing the sky. He was lost in his thoughts; the events of the last days had been turbulent. Hearing that Theon had returned from wherever he had been was unsettling.

“Robb?”

The moment he had dreaded had finally come. Robb had known that it would happen, he just hadn’t thought it would be so soon. He held his breath, turned around and there he stood. It had been what- three or four years since he had last heard or seen Theon.

He recognized him immediately even if he looked slightly different. He was skinnier, his black hair had white strands in it and his glimpse had nothing of the usual cockiness in it.

Robb couldn’t move. He had tried to imagine what he would do if he were ever to meet Theon again. He had a hundreds of scenarios in his head but none would fit the actual situation. Robb had thought that he would hate him, he wanted to hate him. But he couldn’t. Seeing Theon standing just a few meters apart was too much. Robb was overwhelmed by his feelings.

They stood there for a solid minute just staring at each other.

Then they moved at the same time, rushing forward, spreading their arms and as they met pulled each other into a tight hug.

Theon buried his face in the crook of Robb’s neck. He shivered and sobbed and Robb could feel the tears trickle on his skin.

He put his hand on the back of Theon’s head and held him tight. This was definitely not how he would have imagined their reunion.

They broke apart and Robb took Theon’s face in his hands. He took a deep look in Theon’s black eyes, they were red and swollen from the tears but they were his’ all the same. He had missed these eyes.

 

That evening they shared a bed just the way they used to before Theon had left. They were lying pressed against each other, limbs tangled.

Robb was still angry and could barely control his emotions. Theon had told him the reason he hadn’t come back or called or texted. Roose Bolton’s son had followed Theon before his father had told him to. Actually since the day Theon left for Pyke.  
Theon had no idea why he had picked him, he hadn't done anything to him or his family and had certainly never met him before. Ramsay Bolton abducted him right before Theon could reach his car on the parking lot at that restaurant.  
Bolton had held him captive for over three years. Theon didn’t want to share the details, he just said that Ramsay Bolton was a cruel bastard. Robb could see that Theon had been tortured, parts of his back and legs had been flayed and there were a lot of scars on his arms and shoulders too. And obviously he hadn’t gotten enough food.   
A few days ago Theon was finally able to escape and made his way back to Winterfell and Robb was glad about it.

 

“You won’t send me away again?” Theon asked in a low voice as he cuddled himself against Robb’s chest.

Robb pulled him closer and kissed his forehead. “Never. And you won’t leave me again, promise me.”

“I’ll stay with you. Now and always, remember?”

“Yes. Now and always.”


End file.
